


Just you and me

by schulott



Series: And we find home in each other's arms [7]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Future Fic, Hungarian GP 2021, M/M, Slice of Life, Summer Break 2021, Trip to Florence, no beta i just exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:47:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29613126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schulott/pseuds/schulott
Summary: “Romance isn’t dead, amirite?” Callum comments, after taking a gulp of water from a bottle.Mick sometimes wonders how his eyes are not permanently stuck at the back of his head with how much he rolls his eyes.(Or: just schulott basking in each other's presence in general - and spending time with friends too.)(Near-)future fic surrounding the 2021 Hungarian GP and the start of the summer break.
Relationships: Callum Ilott/Mick Schumacher
Series: And we find home in each other's arms [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2089959
Comments: 10
Kudos: 55





	Just you and me

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not claim to own any of these characters, and this is a work of fiction. This is not intended to be any reference to, or be any likeness to any people or events in real life. No economic value of any kind has been produced in writing this.
> 
> I have to admit this instalment has been completed at least a week or two ago, just that I hadn't found the time to post it while I pull 14/15-hour days for work.
> 
> This series (as it has grown to) is just really mostly schulott being sof huh? I guess it is going to be like that. In my defence I look at them together and just go sof. so.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

**19 July 2021**

_ Monday 09:29 GMT _

When Mick returns to Callum’s room, he finds his boyfriend barely awake, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and sort of sitting upright but tilted to one side like the Tower of Pisa against the headboard. A small smile graces his lips when he spots Mick, and he pats the empty space beside him that Mick had occupied for the night, inviting him back into bed. Mick does not need to be asked twice, as he puts down his cup of tea carefully on Callum’s desk, before walking over and slipping back in, letting Callum lean against him and nuzzle the side of his head, while Mick just finds Callum’s hand to lace their fingers together.

Mick had gotten up relatively early, his body foiling his plan to sleep in just this time, and he had slipped out of bed and into the living room after pulling on some comfy clothes, having tried and failed to fall back asleep lying there and staring at the spotless ceiling of Callum’s bedroom. He had intended to get something to hydrate his throat that had gone dry like a desert overnight, but finds Callum’s mother sitting at the kitchen with tea, and reading the papers while eating breakfast, oatmeal or something. He had politely declined the offer to have some made for him, though gratefully accepted a cup of tea, and sat down to chat with her. She asked after the wellbeing of Mick’s family, and Mick himself in the midst of a pandemic, and they talked about various things, not related to racing, but more about their general interests, like Mick having played ice hockey as a kid, or his relationship with horses, or the lure of the forests and all that; and Mick also listens to her talking about other things about what she does on a regular, and looking after kids in general. They also talk about Callum, inevitably, and she mentioned how she thought a while back, Callum had looked even brighter than before, when she first started noticing Callum having someone around, and Mick about the steadiness, frankness and maturity of Callum, among other things they have talked about.

There is no room for doubt to be left that Mick is well-liked by Callum’s parents, even if Callum had told him so multiple times already, that it hits different when Mick can experience and feel it himself, and he just smiled bashfully when he excused himself to head back into the bedroom to be with Callum, with Callum’s mother just nodding with a knowing smile and shooing him to get him going.

Callum lets out a pleased noise when he finally finds the exact position and posture that he likes as he drapes himself against Mick. “You up so early?” He mumbles.

“Body just decided to wake up. So just went and got tea and chatted with your mother.”

“Please tell me she didn’t say anything embarrassing.”

“Nah.” He assures Callum, turning over to place a kiss in his hair. “Do you wanna sleep more?”

“Dunno.” Callum mumbles after a few moments. “What do you wanna do today?”

“Being lazy in bed? Not much else we can do anyway being stuck inside.”

“I’m perfectly fine with that plan.” Callum nods sagely while still being half awake.

“No complaints from me.” Mick declares, as he shifts a little to get a little more comfortable, deciding that it is a perfectly fine way to pass the time. It is not like he intended to get work done or train while visiting anyway. Those can wait just a day or two until he gets home to Switzerland, he needs the rest anyway, and he cannot think of any better way to recuperate than this.

* * *

_ Monday 15:26 GMT _

They had emerged again at around lunchtime, and Mick had tried to offer to help with the cooking but in vain, so instead he had spent time in the garden with Callum with Poppy, as they follow the dog around and see her sniffing at everything and dashing around on her tiny little legs. Mick had also managed to pick her up and cradled her to his chest for a short moment, as the two stood together and petted the dog, before they were called back inside for lunch.

After lunch, Mick had sat down with Callum’s father, by the window, with Steve (as he insisted Mick on calling him that) mentioning that it is the spot Callum loves to hang out at whenever he is at home when he is not doing anything in particular. Callum had volunteered to go a few streets down to the bakery to pick up some fresh bread with his mother, so it is just the two of them here, plus Callum’s little sister getting up to whatever she is doing with Poppy. They end up talking about motorbikes, which Mick has a fascination of, having owned some himself as well, and he gets to talk about the different bikes he has owned or ridden over the years, and the ones that he rides now sometimes, even to some races where he could feasibly take his own bike. Callum returns somewhere along when the two are talking about MotoGP, and with neither of them paying much attention to him, he just throws himself onto the couch and presses his back against Mick’s side, throwing his legs over the armrest of the couch. Mick’s fingers automatically find their way into Callum’s hair, as he combs through them while he continues his conversation with Steve.

Later in the afternoon, Callum convinces Mick to play a few rounds of Mario Kart with his little sister to entertain her, as she has been asking about it ever since Callum came home the previous evening. Mick obliges, proceeding to comically lose races to her over and over again, driving straight off the track on rainbow road like he does not know what he is doing, while Callum is so into coaching and helping his little sister into winning the races like Mick is not throwing them in all the comical ways he could think of anyway, making the scenario resemble something competitive when it is anything but. It makes Callum’s sister happy and giggly though, so it is all for good fun.

They get time to themselves later, cooping up in Callum’s room as they watch a few episodes of one of the series they are watching together, and looking around the internet for new memes and such, and Mick looks on with a wry smile as he sees Callum fucking around on Twitter again as he engages the trolls and throws around joke after joke in tweets like there is no tomorrow.

* * *

**20 July 2021**

_ Tuesday 01:11 GMT _

With the house quiet to but a hum of the background noise of the town surrounding them, the lazy makeout that Callum had initiated had grown progressively more heated as the night dragged on, with Mick's impending departure back home to Switzerland the next morning looming over them. Callum lets himself be pushed into the mattress, as he buries his face in the pillow to keep himself from making too loud of a noise with Mick gently pushing into him from behind, bottoming out over and over, bracing himself on either side of Callum to keep himself above him while he is at it. He whispers adorations and endearments in a mix of languages into Callum’s ear with his gentle but intense movements, their skin sliding against each other, and hair dampened by the sweat of the heat emanating from their own bodies as well as the weather.

“Fuck, Callum. You’re so perfect.” Mick had whispered airily into his ears, and Callum’s brain had been reduced to mush by then that he did not even have the capability to disagree with him, and instead just turned his head while panting, giving Mick access to crane his neck to crash their lips together.

Mick comes first, and Callum is close as well by then, with the pressure from behind as well as the friction he gets from in front pushing him towards the edge. He lets himself be flipped over so that he is lying on his back, his backside sore, but his attention to that sensation is torn away when Mick swallows him down all the way in one go, and he had to bite his palm to resist letting out a particularly loud moan from the sensitivity and pleasure, and he lasts not another minute, when he comes down Mick’s throat, who had refused to pull off even when Callum had tried to pull at his hair to warn him.

They had laid there trying to catch their breath for a short moment, but then both reluctantly got out of bed and into the shower to clean themselves, lest they have to do it in the morning, which would probably get themselves into a very awkward situation if they get seen what state they are in, dishevelment obvious in revealing what they had been up to overnight.

When they finally settle back in bed, Callum climbs into bed after Mick, laying half on top of Mick’s broad shoulders and chest, throwing an arm and a leg over his boyfriend and ignoring the scorching heat of the weather around them, and instead just shoving the duvet aside to compensate for the heat, and nestles his face under Mick’s chin.

“You’re the perfect one.” He mumbles sleepily, and Mick does not argue with him, and instead just wraps his arm around him to pull him closer.

* * *

_ Tuesday 09:53 GMT _

If anyone had an inkling of their nightly activities, they have been hiding it very well. Callum would like to think that neither his parents had a slither of a clue of what they were up to, as both looked perfectly normal and had not looked like they know anything, as he and Mick got ready for the airport - well, Mick is the one flying out and Callum is just there to drop him off at Heathrow. They may be a bit more touchy feely than usual, but they think they are allowed, in the privacy inside the four walls of the house, and given that he is about to see Mick on his way home again.

The drive down to London is peaceful, and the motorway not being too busy that it is quite a breeze on their way down south. The topic about doing TV-spots randomly came up on the drive, probably because Mick started to imitate being a driving instructor like in the Fahrschule spot he did back in F3, except this time he is the instructor.

“You know how to overtake?” Mick asks, as he gestures at the overtaking lane, with them being stuck behind a particularly slow driver, probably a grandma on her day out. Callum just snorts, “I’ll show you overtake.” He says and then floors the pedal while switching lanes. “No speed cameras in sight this time.”

“I thought you’re all for me not being a distracted driver.” Callum comments when they get back to driving normally, and Mick calming down from his random burst of playful energy that had set him down on the path of shenanigans. Mick just barks out a laugh and raises his hands in surrender, conceding the point.

Callum reaches over to flick Mick’s cap lower over his head, when he pulls up to the drop off zone and puts the car into park. It is then he realises something, as his hand leaves the black cap that is sitting on Mick’s head.

“Isn’t that my cap?”

Mick has the audacity to smile cheekily at him, as he adjusts it better. “Maybe?”

Callum just huffs, “why does everyone like to wear my stuff?” He says exasperatedly, reminded of that time when Marcus wore his very expensive t-shirt just to lounge in the living room while eating a ceasar’s salad, though he says it without malice, instead just hopping out of the car to help Mick with his luggage.

He sees off Mick at the entrance to the terminal, with foot traffic still not insignificant given it being a major international airport, and mindful of not getting either of them recognised in public when there is a distinct chance that they would, especially so soon after a grand prix.

“Call me when you get home?” He asks, to which Mick quickly nods in assent, pulling him into a one-armed hug quickly, before Callum ushers him to get going, only turning to get back to the car when Mick disappears from his line of sight through the windows.

* * *

**23 July 2021**

_ Friday 16:04 GMT _

Spending time apart with Mick does not seem as bad as it was before, now that Callum knows that he would be at the races so they would see each other around the track. He was out in front of the house, with the hood of the car popped up and in the middle of changing oil, when someone from the team called, and told him that he would be attending most, if not all of the remaining races of the year, seeing as the team decided that they would need the certainty that they have someone at the ready at the track in case someone falls ill. Callum is vaguely aware that there had been a few cases here or there of team personnel getting positive cases from their regular screening, and there had been one or two instances of people getting the scare of a false-positive, including one of the drivers on the grid as well, so the team may have finally decided they would need the peace of mind that someone would be available to step in at the track, rather than scrambling if the unfortunate happens to them. Which is surprising in itself, in a way, that the team acts with some foresight for once, but he is not complaining at all, even if it means more travelling for him, that it would mean that he could get closer to the action and remind people that he is still around.

He tells Mick of the fact later in the afternoon, and gets a general reaction that is similar to Callum’s, that they could see each other, and impressed at the forethought the team has for once. They stay on the line for another half an hour, as they talk about how they have spent the past few days, Callum rattling off the list of chores he has worked through in recent days alongside his usual routine, while Mick has had a comparatively more exciting time, with him doing some mountain biking in the hills, as well as going on runs with Angie late in the evening.

They also talk about their plans for the upcoming race weekend and the summer break, and Callum has to say that there is a bloom of happiness in him when they both easily agree on spending the break together, and he can say it is one of the few times in his life when he looks forward to the racing to just pause for a while so that he gets some time away from the track. But if he could get Mick to himself for an extended period of time without needing to worry about their obligations just for a while, and also get him away from the constant reminder that he is not driving for the year, he is not one to complain about it one single bit.

* * *

**1 August 2021**

_ Sunday 16:52 CET _

The weekend in Budapest is uneventful for Mick for the most part, and he cannot say he is complaining about it, when he thinks about it as he gets out of the car. Sometimes an uneventful weekend may be just the best way a weekend could go, without any shunts or controversies or things going wrong in general otherwise. It is a pretty standard affair for him, attending the press conferences and interviews that his presence is required, getting through the program for the free practice sessions, sneaking into Q2 for the qualifying and fighting in the lower midfield for the bulk of the race. He ran in the points for quite a number of laps, but as the race order shuffled around with the pit strategy and with his tyres falling off in the latter stages of the race, he shifted back down the order to finish outside the points. It is what it is though, and he had given his all in the race at a track that is notoriously hard to overtake, and given that he has finished above where he started, even when you take away the gains from cars retiring from in front of him, Mick cannot say that he has done too bad in the race.

He has seen Callum at and around the track over the weekend, though their schedules have not aligned too well this race, so their moments spent together are limited to quick moments here and there when they could stop and stand to the side or sit down to talk for a little while, managing to share a meal on Wednesday evening, and not much else beyond that. With the recent news that one of the mechanics at Mick’s team getting tested positive on Thursday, neither took their chances and stayed socially distanced for the rest of the weekend, until Mick could get the race over with and they can get back to Maranello together and spend as much time together as they desired.

Callum can be seen in the paddock doing the post race review show with Will, as it has become a common occurrence, his boyfriend alternating with Jack to do these shows. Mick passes by their booth with a quick wave at both Callum and Will, with him not being asked to speak to them in the aftermath for this race, so he goes straight back to his garage after doing the interviews in the press pen, getting straight to doing the debrief to go over his performance and that of the car’s for the weekend, so he could finish all his obligations to the team surrounding the race as quickly as he could, and hopefully can finally get Callum close to him after both chose the responsible thing to stay apart while the weekend has been going on.

When quizzed by one or two journalists about what he is going to do over the summer break, Mick had in no uncertain terms shut down the questioning, just saying that he is looking forward to taking a rest and would probably be relaxing at home and training for the rest of the season, without entertaining the questions about his whereabouts or otherwise. He cares about his privacy, after all, and not even racing in the pinnacle of motorsports is going to change that.

Callum steps into his hotel room an hour and a half later, looking as freshly showered as Mick is, just as Mick puts aside the towel he had been using to dry off his hair and picks up the room service menu to decide on what he is going to order. He leans against the desk and looks at Callum coming closer, the menu forgotten, and pulls his boyfriend in by the arm for a chaste kiss as soon as he is close enough. They do not scream at the top of their lungs that they missed each other, but it is plainly obvious that it is the case, as Mick leaned against the side of the taller boy, while they look at the menu to decide on what they would have for dinner, not moving away even when he picks up the phone to place their orders. While waiting for the food to arrive, Mick seats himself on the table, with Callum standing between his thighs, and hands resting on them. Mick’s hands are resting on his own thighs too, and their fingertips are touching each other’s but not linked together, as they relish just the sensation of the presence of the other, with no one around to scrutinise their interactions.

“My hair is getting long.” Mick says with his eyes closed, when Callum lifts one of his hands to brush through the strands that have fallen onto his forehead and into his eyes, in the absence of product holding them in place as a quiff.

The hand runs its way down the side of his face gently, and Mick leans into the touch, when a thumb rubs against his cheek, then down to his chin, where the faintest hint of a stubble is starting to form. He finally reaches up to hold Callum’s hand in his own, with a satisfied smile on his face.

“Might be time for a trim.” Callum agrees, finally, as he laces their fingers together. “I love it long but you look very fine anyway.” He says, “aside from when you shaved it all off.”

“Hey!” Mick protests with mock offence, trying to retract his hand from Callum’s grip.

“You looked like a school bully who would punch my face and snatch my milk money.” Callum declares, while Mick tries to push him for saying that, not having Callum’s dramaticness at that moment. His shaved look might not be his best (by far), but he looks good regardless, if you ask Mick. Callum evidently disagrees, as he just dodges Mick’s push and says that it is a perfectly fair description.

“I’m breaking up with you.” Mick declares, though laughter is bubbling up from inside him at the absurdity of this non-argument.

Callum ignores the threat, and instead holds Mick’s face in both his hands to kiss him on the tip of his nose. “No you’re not.”

“No I’m not.” Mick agrees.

Callum pulls away to answer the door, when there are a couple of knocks on the hardwood, notifying them of the arrival of their dinner.

* * *

**2 August 2021**

_ Monday 11:17 CET _

Callum mentioned to him the night prior that some of the F3 guys were going to do some karting after the weekend at the karting track near the racetrack, and had asked him if he wanted to go. Mick had been on the fence, not that he does not like karting, far from it, but more about if there were any inherent risks of doing so. In the end though, he acquiesced to go, when Callum mentioned that Juan is going to be there as well - their friend that they hold dear being back around with ART in F3, and Mick decided to go just so they could hang out with him.

It is not a small crowd that they come into, and there are some raised eyebrows, particularly among the younger guys who they are not familiar with, when they spot Mick and Callum appearing at the track. Some others though, the likes of Arthur, Fred and Oliver that Mick knows from Prema, come over to greet them enthusiastically, glad that more people are in on the fun, and a few moments later, Mick finds his cousin in the circle as well, and he catches up with David, having not spoken to him lately with their racing commitments getting in the way. All else is forgotten though, when he hears a familiar laugh, and turns over to see Callum wrapping Juan in a bear hug, before quickly letting go of him to let him greet Mick as well. Mick is still no less amazed and happy to see his friend up and about and  _ racing _ again, and he lets himself be pulled into a one-armed hug, patting his friend on the side of his shoulder and asking after how he is doing.

“Ready to get your ass handed over to papi out there?” Juan asks brightly, nodding his head towards the track with a cheeky smile that never seems to leave his face.

“Won’t be so sure about that.” Mick answers the challenge without reservation, as they both follow the rest of the group to get suited and booted up for the track, with Callum walking on the other side of Juan and the three of them having a laugh.

Callum beats both of them in the first race, nearly taking the overall win after a tense last lap fight against Arthur, while Mick and Juan ended up being tied up in a titanic battle that had shadows of bumper cars rather than just karting.

* * *

_ Monday 14:01 CET _

Mick is still bickering with Juan about whether he had ran Mick off his line by the time they got to a local restaurant near the track, Callum leading the way and content to let the two of them have fun with the bickering and instead busying himself with getting them a table, and shoving a menu each in front of their noses when they finally sat down to finally put a pause to their back and forth. “Come on kids, look at what you want to have first.”

Juan immediately flips him off before taking the offered menu, though Mick automatically complied and started reading, before it finally registered what Callum had said and why Juan flicked him off. He shoves his boyfriend indignantly, which only gets him a delighted cackle from Callum. He huffs and goes back to reading the menu, and lets his hand be held by Callum under the table, shielded from prying eyes, without resistance when his boyfriend reaches down to take it.

They catch up as they wait for food, as it has been a long while since the three of them find themselves at the same place at once, usually being just two of them in any combination instead. They give Juan shit about him and Jüri crossing the great expanse separating them to spend time with each other, and that they probably love each other more than they love their respective girlfriends, only to have Juan give the greatest comeback of all time without even having to use words - by just pointing at the two of them, which effectively shut both of them up.

He saw Callum texting secretly under the table, but did not think too much about it until he sees a blond shock of hair entering his line of sight from behind Juan, still having a minor resemblance of a peacock, and Jüri placing a finger in front of his own lips to resemble a shush motion at Mick, and casually patting Juan on the shoulder. Juan confusedly looks behind him, before Mick sees his face go on a quick journey before he stands up to pull his friend into a bone crushing hug. Mick and Callum both offer a fist for him to bump over the table when he is finally released from Juan’s grip, a good fifteen or thirty seconds later.

Both Juan and Mick query why he is here, before they are reminded of the fact that the Estonian is here with the Red Bull team, but just having not had the time to be away from his team over the weekend given the strict rules imposed by his team. He also tells them that he had accidentally overslept in the morning, or he would have been at the karting track as well.

After quickly getting Jüri’s order sorted as well, they get back to chatting with each other, as Juan gets to subtly quizzing the two about their relationship without explicitly talking about it, seeing as they are in public, and getting them to agree to hosting him and Jüri after the race in Monza before he flies back over the pond to Florida. They then get to talk about other things, like Juan going on an off road journey with his girlfriend in a buggy, and Jüri’s ongoing tennis matchups with a certain Dane at every race weekend so far (it prompted Juan to complain that Jüri had him replaced, before the Estonian pointed out that he literally flew all the way to Florida to spend new year’s with him, while Mick and Callum just shared a look, both biting their tongue on how the two in front of them resemble an old married couple), and Mick’s new motorbike that he was shown riding in one of the social media posts by his team that Juan declared was “too cool for Mick”, which led to Mick taking full offense and jokingly declaring that he is bullied when his boyfriend just laughed at his expense rather than help fight his corner.

* * *

_ Monday 20:03 CET _

It was late in the evening when Mick and Callum got back to their flat in the outskirts of Maranello, having taken a late flight out of Budapest on the same day. As far as they could gather, Juan and Jüri are staying in Budapest for another day, doing god knows what. Mick is still a little tired from the race weekend and the intense karting battle he had earlier in the day, so he went straight to lazing on the couch, before he gets shephereded into the shower to clean himself up, while Callum got to fix up something quick for them to eat, neither feeling particularly hungry, coming out of the shower to a sandwich made with the ciabatta they had picked up on the way home.

Feeling a little sluggish but unwilling to go straight to bed from eating, while Callum goes to have a quick shower, Mick got to unpacking the essentials, taking out their laptops and other electronics to place them at their usual places in the house, and putting away his helmets as well as some of the unused clothes, before finally giving up and climbing into bed, sitting atop the covers as he yawns loudly, picking up the remote to flick through things on screen to look for something to keep himself awake.

His plan is mostly unsuccessful, as the next thing he remembers is a finger brushing up from his chin to the corner of his mouth, and he opens his eyes to see a fond look on Callum’s face, and him wiping his finger on the towel he is holding, before deciding to just wipe Mick’s face with his damp towel directly. He is very disoriented by the turn of the events, before Callum finally informs him what has happened. “You’re drooling,” he says, the smile still not leaving his face, “dork.”

Mick makes a vaguely displeased noise, but Callum just boops his nose, “you didn’t need to wait up, just sleep if you’re tired.” He says, as he climbs into bed next to Mick, urging Mick to slide down the bed to lie flat on his back. “We have a lot of time on our hands for the break.” The last thing Mick remembers before falling into the realm of sleep is Callum placing a chaste kiss on his cheek.

* * *

**4 August 2021**

_ Wednesday 14:39 CET _

Mick hears Marcus voice ringing in from the doorway, as Callum has gone to answer the door, while Mick is left on the couch, with the film they are watching paused on the television screen.

“How’s the honeymoon going then?” Mick hears Marcus asking, and he does not need to see his face to be able to hear the jokey lilt to his voice.

“You’d think I’ll answer the door and let you in if I’m on honeymoon?” Callum shoots back without missing a beat, and then he hears the tell-tale sounds of Robert’s laughter that sounds more like a dying hyena than human, but that is how he rolls.

Mick cranes his head backwards over the back of the couch, catching a sight of the two and Gianluca with Callum, and he salutes Robert like they always do with each other, before standing up to join them as well, bumping fists with the Russian and greeting the others as well. Gianluca shakes the bag he is holding, revealing the assortment of fruits they have brought with them.

The screen door leading from the living room to the backyard is wide open in the summer afternoon, but there is a lack of wind in general, leading to it being quite hot under the strong summer sun, with Marcus mutters under his breath something about global warming as he sits down on the ground at the threshold to the backyard, very obviously eyeing up the pool. It is hot to be fair, as Mick could feel himself sweating a little, and his boyfriend is already wearing a tank, and there are strands of his hair stuck to his forehead from the thin layer of sweat that has formed on it. Robert and Gianluca have already taken to themselves to raid their fridge to look for cold drinks, helping themselves with one of the large juice boxes they found, while Callum has taken the bag of fruits and laid them out on the counter.

The guys scatter around the living room, Mick turning off the film and switching Netflix to some other random thing that pops up on the screen, though no one is really paying much attention to it, instead he hears more complaints about the weather, and chatter about their plans or the lack thereof for the summer break. Cases are slowing down lately and some places are reopening, so their options are not exactly limited to just staying inside the confines of their homes, though there is still a wariness about what they should or should not do and all that.

“Callum and I are prolly gonna go out and do stuff if we can avoid people in general.” Mick supplies, when the guys turn to look at him, still on the same topic, while Callum is out in the backyard pulling around deck chairs. “We’re looking at things to do together. Haven’t decided yet though.” He had been thinking of going to Florence with Callum to do touristy stuff together, remembering that he saw a clip of him asking about the photo plastered behind him as the backdrop for one of the press conferences in Italy, so that might be a possibility. He is not lying though, when he says they have not decided, since they have mostly just been chilling and unwinding the day prior, and today is technically just the second day of break that they are home, and have not done much planning if at all.

Callum pops back in the living room a few seconds later, kicking Marcus on the floor while he passes through the threshold and earning himself a finger in the process. “Alright boys, stuff’s ready, so go wild with the pool if you want.”

“About bloody time.” Marcus mutters, as he pulls off his shirt right there and then, and cannonballs into the pool with the same pair of shorts he has been wearing.

“Don’t you have to change out of your shorts?” Mick calls out to Marcus, who has just surfaced from beneath the surface.

“Nah, I’ve brought spares.”

“What about your phone?” Robert asks, from next to Mick, having changed out of his skinny jeans into swimshorts, and walking towards the pool to jump in.

“I’ve more foresight than you think to not put stuff in my pockets.” Marcus shoots back, pushing himself back from the edge of the pool to paddle to the other end.

They spend the afternoon in and around the pool, sometimes laid out on the deck chairs, and getting into and out of the water as they felt like, and otherwise chatting and just hanging out in the cooler surroundings of an otherwise hot summer afternoon. Mick had observed Robert laid out on the deck chair trying to get a tan, only to get dangerously close to getting a sunburn instead, to which Callum had unhelpfully commented that Rob was starting to look like a lobster. There is the occasional splash of water in someone’s face, and Gianluca diving underwater to pull on people’s feet just for the fun of it.

When the sun hangs a little lower on the sky, having all showered - for once the fact that they had more than one shower at the house making any sense, they are gathered around the table outside, and under the shades of a tree and the sunbrella over them, with Callum holding a dangerously big knife that Mick is not even aware that they owned, and opening up pineapples as well as carving up other fruits that the guys brought along.

Mick is shoving a piece of watermelon into his mouth, with a grey cap worn backwards on his head, and scrolling on his phone with his free hand, when he sees the latest post from Gianluca, being a photo taken from the poolside. In it, Mick is sitting next to Marcus on the edge of the pool, while Robert is in the middle of the water, with his back turned to the camera, and gesturing to Marcus. Callum is hanging off a pool float in the water, and looking at Mick, while the two are both laughing about something.  _ Summer days, _ the caption reads. He double tabs on the photo, before continuing scrolling on his phone, and he sees in the corner of his eye that Callum is waving around that knife, then he also sees Marcus filming both of them. Callum lets him take the knife out of his hands, while he sees his boyfriend place a piece of pineapple in his mouth, pausing before abruptly biting off half of the piece, which confuses the hell out of Mick. He sees his phone vibrating a few seconds later, and sees that he is tagged in Marcus’ Instagram story, and he sees the same scene play out again from an outside perspective, but also seeing the journey his face makes when he sees the knife being waved around, carefully taking it out of Callum’s hand, as well as the utter confusion as he furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at Callum when he saw him taking a bite out of the piece of pineapple while engaging in a staredown with the camera. Marcus even zoomed in on his confused look at the end of the story for good measure.

“Same, @mickschumacher” the caption on the story reads.

He cannot help but snort as he watches the story one more time, before he gets distracted by the next thing happening at the table, with Marcus and Gianluca losing their mind over something that Mick had not paid attention to, and his confusion continues as the meltdown ensues around him, with Marcus yelling something about “prime podcast material”.

* * *

**6 August 2021**

_ Friday 07:23 CET _

Callum was quick to agree, when Mick brought up the idea of visiting Florence, since he had been thinking about visiting the place to see if it is really as pretty as it seemed in the pictures he has seen, and as far as Mick could tell, Callum had spent at least an hour or two looking at guides for places of interest in Florence straight after that discussion. It was not as straightforward though, when Mick brought up that he wants to take the bikes out to ride down there for their trip.

It is just that when they also have two Alfas parked in front of the house, he did not get why they would not go with the easier option. That is until Mick pulled up the map and pointed out a route on the map.

“You see this route between Bologna and Florence?” Mick had said, while running his finger along a smaller back road that runs in parallel to the highway, “this is the  _ Passo della Futa _ , from what I heard it’s quite tight and twisty and fun to drive, so I was thinking maybe we could do it on the way there and take the highway for the trip back.”

“But of course we can just take the car, it is just an idea.” Mick had hastened to add, unwilling to be pressuring Callum into doing something he does not want to.

Callum had nodded and said he would think about it, before he came back to Mick in the evening saying that he would do the bikes with him, though also asking why in the world Mick had two bikes at the house in the first place. Mick had sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, saying that he did not want to let go of the 09 even after he got the new bike, so he has both here with him for the time being.

They are now readying up for the trip, Mick putting on one of his dark Under Armour hoodies and throwing a backpack over his back, while Callum somehow has dug out a denim jacket from somewhere inside the house to wear, commandeered some spare gear that Mick has lying around and having found an all black helmet lying around the house, one of his that he has not used in a while, that he is now pulling over his head.

They walk out back to where Mick has parked his bikes in the shelter next to the backyard fence, as Mick pushes out the new bike he is seen riding, his newer model Yamaha that is black with splashes of dark red on it, while Callum takes his other bike, another Yamaha that has streaks of neon yellow on the bodywork.

“You better take it easy on me.” Callum says next to him, from under the helmet, sitting on the bike and turning the throttle to rev up the engine.

“Don’t worry about it.” Mick promises.

* * *

_ Friday 08:48 CET _

They take the highway down from Maranello to the outskirts of Bologna, following the bend of the highway to turn south. Mick had let Callum lead the way for the first section of the trip, so the Brit can set the pace for the journey and familiarise himself with Mick’s bike, and they ride side by side on calmer stretches of the road, and Mick finds himself getting a different kind of thrill, just getting to do this with someone, without even having gotten to the start of the Futa Pass. He tells Callum as much, when they stop at one of the highway rest stops, taking a quick break before they are going to transition off the highway and onto the hilly backroads of Emilia Romagna.

“Romance isn’t dead, amirite?” Callum comments, after taking a gulp of water from a bottle.

Mick huffs, but before he can say anything, Callum adds to his comment. “I’m loving it so far too, prolly doing this with you makes it more enjoyable even when we had the option to just take the car.”

That appeases Mick quite a bit, though he also seizes the opportunity to hit back at his boyfriend. “You can’t say stuff like that and also make fun of me for being a hopeless romantic. Gotta pick one.”

“Nah, I can do both. Jack of all trades, master of none.”

Mick sometimes wonders how his eyes are not permanently stuck at the back of his head with how much he rolls his eyes.

The Futa Pass does live up to its reputation. With a lack of tourists and it being relatively early in the day, they do not run into a lot of traffic, and are on their own for large stretches of the journey through the mountain pass. Mick leads the way, as they take the bikes to wind through the tight and twisty mountain roads, leaning low as they take on some of the sharper turns of the pass, there are shots of adrenaline running through his veins that he did not anticipate getting as Mick takes on the succession of corners combined with the height elevations they are working with. There are also stretches of scenery that they get to see the undulation of the rolling hills surrounding them, when they get to sections of clearings where the trees lining the road get a little bit sparser, and allowing them to look out into the distance and into the expanse of the mountains of Emilia Romagna and Tuscany.

* * *

_ Friday 10:13 CET _

Probably fueled by adrenaline, they managed to drive more than half of the pass in one go, including some of the more challenging sections early in the journey, and only stop for a breather when they get to Cafaggiolo, where they can also see road signs directing motorists to turn to the northeast if they were travelling to the Mugello Circuit. Mick hops off the bike at a siding on the road, just as Callum stops next to him and does the same, leaning some of his body weight against the bike as he takes a moment for himself.

“You doing okay?” Mick asks, having taken off his own helmet to take a generous sip of water out of his bottle, his hair plastered to his forehead from the sweat he has sweated during the journey. Callum finally pulls off his helmet as well, nodding as he takes the water bottle out of Mick’s hand to down the rest of it in one go, heaving a breath before finally answering him. “Yeah, that was a bit challenging, but also I could literally feel the adrenaline running in my body right now.” He says with a laugh. “It’s more fun than I expected.”

Callum stuffs the emptied water bottle back into Mick’s backpack, before clapping his shoulder, “come on boy, let’s go,” with even more enthusiasm than Mick has at the moment, urging him to get going again so they can finally get to their destination.

* * *

_ Friday 12:07 CET _

They had emerged from the back hills of Tuscany to see a sea of terracotta roofs across the horizon, as far as they could see, in the city limits of Florence, as they descended towards the heartland of the Italian, and the birthplace of Renaissance. They continue their descent, following the road that tightens on both sides, as they pass through the backroads of the city, noticing that they are passing by buildings with red roofs now, and emerging at a major intersection with the Piazza della Libertà just a street down from them.

They had hopped off their bikes, taken a stroll randomly in the surrounding streets and gardens surrounded by old buildings, before dipping into one of the cafés in a side street, nursing a cup of coffee and having some bread and pastries between them, hidden away in the corner of the premises, and looking out into the quiet surroundings.

Only when their energies are replenished, do they continue with their bikes for a few streets further down south into the city center proper of Florence, before they park up the bikes for good and start walking around the historic city center surrounding the Florence Cathedral, its large dome towering over all else in the city.

* * *

_ Friday 18:43 CET _

Truth be told, neither of them set off on their trip down to Florence with a particular plan on what they are going to do, and added with the fact that they are avoiding congregations of people, and that not everything has reopened, they have ended up just popping into a few places, like the cathedral that is very deserted, and otherwise strolling through the maze of streets in the city center, with the back of their hands brushing against each other. It has become a sort of little adventure, looking for hidden alleyways and side streets and setting off down them, not knowing where they would lead them, and marvelling at how the buildings all being unique from the other, built independent of the other, while also carrying a homogeneity that constitutes the sea of terracotta that forms the skyline of the city. They occasionally found themselves emerging into a main square here and there in the midst of the sea of buildings, and sitting down on a bench on the side, looking up into the blue skies, feeling the slight breeze blowing through the thoroughfares and reaching them in the square, and feeling the peace and aura of the city surrounding them.

They realise that there is such a rich cultural and artistic background to the city that is probably nuanced beyond their understanding, or the room and time they have to set aside for their attention to be put on things like these, and so they focus on the uniqueness of things they see, rather heading into the art galleries and not understanding a single thing. 

Instead they stumble upon sights like the Ponte Vecchio where shops are perched on top of an arched bridge that crosses the River Arno, found even more gardens, and places like Piazzale Michelangiolo that is apparently a tourist favourite, where they got and unobstructed panorama of the Florence cityscape, and the various Medici palaces and forts, as they see historical buildings and cultural heritages of the city that is distinct in flair when compared to the other Italian cities they have been to (albeit not a lot to start with). 

It is when Mick is standing against the ledge of the deserted Piazzale, with the sun hanging low in the sky, that Callum gets the sight of Mick that is lighted up like golden, with the white walls and terracotta of the roofs in the background forming a warm hue of their environment. Callum takes out his phone, standing a few feet behind his boyfriend, taking a photo of the scene. He is by no means good with a camera, but the photo he had captured is one that is enchanting to himself, the way the side profile of Mick glows in the yellow-orange hue of the surrounding in one, and the other that Mick’s profile is nothing but a dark shadow in the foreground of the cityscape. He shows the photos to Mick a little while later, who seemed no less enchanted by what he sees, though that also prompts him to take out his phone, showing Callum a candid of him, which Callum could see is taken from in front of him, where they must have been in one of the many alleyways, and Callum is in the middle of the pathway, being the only person in the shot, and looking off to the side, with his hands in his pockets, and the denim jacket tied around his waist.

“We’ve become one of those cheesy couples that just take photos of each other huh?” Callum whispers, as he nudges Mick in the side, looking out into the city.

* * *

_ Friday 22:31 CET _

The return leg from Florence was much more direct, with the two of them taking the highway all the way to Bologna before turning northwestwards back to Maranello, taking the familiar turns in the outskirts of the town back to their place, parking the bikes back up at where they had taken them from early in the morning. They were exhausted by then, and hopped into the shower together, and surprisingly neither even had the energy to try and initiate and shenanigans, and the only touches they had on each other were Callum kneading knots out of Mick’s back and shoulders, and Mick returning the favour.

Callum had gotten out of the bathroom first, with Mick taking his time to dry out his own hair, and stretching his muscles a little before he finally exited the bathroom to join his boyfriend back in the bedroom.

What he finds though, is Callum having put on some quiet, slow songs that must have come from the mid-century on their bluetooth speaker. He is standing by the window, and looking out of it into the darkness, only illuminated by the rising moon.

Mick steps closer to his boyfriend, snaking an arm around his waist when they are abreast of each other, and he lets himself be pulled along to be swaying a little by Callum.

“Feeling a bit sentimental tonight, for some reason.” Callum says under his breath, and Mick chuckles, turning them so they are face to face and pulls him into a proper hug, pressing a quick kiss to Callum’s cheek, and letting the swaying motion continue.

“I guess we’ve accidentally gone on a proper date, haven’t we?” Mick infers from the situation, putting the pieces together.

“Maybe that’s what it is, isn’t it?” Callum lets out a short airy laugh. “It was nice.”

“It’s alright. We have this summer all to ourselves, just you and me.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Come drop by my Tumblr: [schulott](https://schulott.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Comments are appreciated.
> 
> Until next time! (And no I'm not sitting on another finished part, I just have no time to write)


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